Closure assembly for hollow drum type containers

ABSTRACT

Novel constructions for hollow drum type containers are disclosed which render such containers more readily portable and functionally re-usable over unusually long periods of time. Ready portability relates particularly to the drum&#39;&#39;s adaptability to conform unusually well to the vertically adjustable tongue part of a lofty rollable leverage cart, and the long-term re-usability relates especially to that drum portion located immediately alongside the threaded bore or &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;bung&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; which is in the drum structural material, commonly at the drum roof-panel top-end.

United States Patent 1191 Kerr 1 51 Mar. 18, 1975 I CLOSURE ASSEMBLY FOR HOLLOW DRUM TYPE CONTAINERS [76] Inventor: Raymond W. Kerr, 3731 N. 58th St., Lincoln, Nebr. 68529 [22] Filed: Nov. 7, 1973 211 Appl. No.: 413,422

[52] US. Cl. 220/288, 285/201 [51] Int. Cl. B65d 41/04 "Field of Search 220/39, 72; 285/189, 190, 285/201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,319,175 5/1943 Winters 285/206 2,339,255 1/1944 Dodson .1 220/39 2,439,907 4/1948 Poglein 294/26 2,454,465 11/1948 Leo 285/206 2,743,786 5/1956 Boosey.... 285/201 2,962,185 11/1960 Starr 220/39 3,008,603 ll/1961 Scully 220/39 3,167,210 1/1965 Carney 220/39 3,177,014 4/1965 Bergstrom 220/39 3,586,204 6/1971 Roper 220/72 3,814,276 6/1974 VanGordon 220/39 Primary Examiner-William 1. Price Assistant ExaminerR. E. Hart Attorney, Agent, or Firm-George R. Nimmer [57] ABSTRACT Novel constructions for hollow drum type containers are disclosed which render such containers more readily portable and functionally re usable over unusually long periods of time. Ready portability relates particularly to the drums adaptability to conform unusually well to the vertically adjustable tongue part of a lofty rollable leverage cart, and the long-term reusability relates especially to that drum portion 10- cated immediately alongside the threaded bore or bung" which is in the drum structural material, commonly at the drum roof-panel top-end.

4 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures CLOSURE ASSEMBLY FOR HOLLOW DRUM TYPE CONTAINERS Hollow drum type containers, commonly of circularly cylindrical shape, are conventionally utilized in the closed-head" and the open-head varieties for storing flowable cargo in readily transportable form e.g. 55 gallons volume. In the open-head variety, the top-end roof-panel is detachable from the container upright tubular shell, while in the closedhead variety the roof-panel is permanently attached to said upright tubular shell. In both drum varieties, the roof-panel is customarily provided with at least one relatively-small closureable opening at a bung therethrough for charging dischargeable cargo into the drum hollow interior chamber, a plug'like closure being ordinarily threadedly engaged with the threaded bore (i.e. bung). Sometimes, the closeable bore or bung is located on the drum upright tubular shell or the floor-panel (the teachings of the present invention also being applicable thereat), but most-often is at the drum roof-panel. Obviously, an extraordinary amount of wear is subjected to the drum at the threaded bung portion during re peated manipulation of the threaded plug-like closure. Particularly severe is this kind of thread wear for drums constructed of resinous or fibrous materials, as opposed to metallic, and oftentimes a resinous or fibrous drum must be prematurely discarded as unusable solely because of stripped or damaged bung threads. Too, both drum varieties, particularly when so constructed of resinous or fibrous materials, are difficult to trans port about a warehouse by a lone workman utilizing lofty and rollable leverage carts.

it is accordingly the general object of the present invention to provide novel constructions for hollow drum type containers adjacent to the threaded bung type closeable-opening whereby thread stripping or damaging is minimized in effect to the overall drum life thereby contributing markedly to the useful longevity of the entire drum.

It is another general object of the present invention to provide novel topend or roof-panel constructions for hollow drum type containers whereby the cargoladen container is more amenable to warehouse transporting by a lone workman utilizing a lofty rollable leverage cart comprising a vertically adjustable tongue part.

It is yet another general object of the present invention to provide novel drum type containers having especially good utility for those drums constructed of resinous and/or fibrous structural materials, both for the open-head and the closed-head varieties.

It is a further object to provide unusually tight reusuable closure combinations at the drum threaded bore or bung, irrespective of the bung location on the drum.

With the above and other objects and advantages in view, which will become more apparent as this description proceeds, the novel constructions for hollow drum type containers generally comprise a tubular sleeve having its outer-diameter threadedly engaged with a bore or bung through the drum structural material, the plug-like closure part being threadedly engaged with the sleeve inner-diameter, there being novel means for preventing rotation of the tubular sleeve during desired rotation of the threaded plug, and together with other selectable novel auxiliary features for the said closeable-opening environment. Special contours for the drum top end roof-panel including novel shaped and positioned recesses or depressions therein provide unusually good drum handelability by a lone workman using conventional lofty rollable leverage carts.

In the drawing, wherein like characters refer to like parts in the several views, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a representative embodiment of the novel constructions for hollow drum type containers.

FIG. 1A is a top plan view of an alternate representative embodiment differing from the FIG. I embodiment only in the number and the elongate length ofthe drum roof-panel recesses or depressions.

FIG. 2 is a sectional elevational view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional elevational view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1, which is a typical (though not exclu sive) location for the novel closeable-opening concepts of the present invention.

In general terms, hollow drum type containers (e.g. A) stably rest upon a horizontal underlying subsstrate such as a warehouse floor or pallet, the drum surrounding a vertical-axis 9. Resting upon the underlying substrate (which might even be the roof-panel of another drum) is a drum floor-panel 11 providing the drum lower end and transversely (e.g. perpendiculary hori zontally) intersecting the vertical-axis 9. There is a tubular shell 10, generally of circular cross-sectional shape as herein, surrounding the vertical-axis 9 and having its lower end continuously annularly connected at a floor-annulus 12 to floor-panel 11. The tubular shell 10 extends loftily uprightly from floor-panel 11 and herein has a constant diameter from the 12l3 terminii. There is a roof-panel 20 topend for typical drums (e.g. A, AA) which roof-panel loftily overlies the floor-panel l1 and is continuously annularly connected to the shell 10 upper end terminus along a roofannulus 13 that herein circularly surrounds verticalaxis 9. Oftentimes, as shown, the thin-wall roof-panel includes an upwardly extending circular stiffener-boss 21 surrounding vertical-axis 9 and radially inwardly offset of roof-annulus 13. Typically too, the drum roofpanel includes one or more closeable-openings (e.g. 30, 30A) comprising a threaded bore or bung 31 provided with a threadedly removably engaged closureplug. However, oftentimes such closeable-openings are instead located at the drum floor-panel 11 or at the tubular shell 10 e.g. midway annulli 12 and 13. The major-areal portion (20D) of the thin-wall roof-panel (20) extends transversely of (and herein perpendicularly horizontally) of the vertical-axis 9.

The novel concepts of the present invention include providing for the thin-wall roof-panel a contour that comprises a plurality of elongated depressions or recesses (e.g. 22, 22A) adapted to receive the vertically adjustable tongue part of the lofty leverage cart (not shown) but previously alluded to. In both the top-end drum embodiments A and AA, the roof-panel 20 is of uniform thickness throughout including at major-area 20D, at stiffener-boss 21, and at the several depressions '22, 22A. For circular tubular shells 10 and circular roof-annulli (13) as shown in the drawing, the plurality of elongate depressions 22, 22A are defined lengthwise at a substantially constant radius from the drum vertical-axis 9. When a stiffener-boss 21 is employed, the depressions 22, 22A are confined to the roof-panel major-area 20D and between the stiffener-boss and the roof-annulus 13. Moreover, such roof-panel depressions 22, 22A are located remote of the closeableopenings 30, 30A so as to preclude functional damage thereto by the leverage cart depending tongue. In drum embodiment A, there are four depressions 22 spaced at regular angular increments 90 about vertical-axis 9,

' while in drum embodiment AA (FIG. 1A), there are two only, but very lengthily elongated, depressions 22A. The fewer and shorter depressions (e.g.-22) are preferred so as to not detract from the roof-panel structural strength when manipulating cargo-laden drums with warehouse leverage carts.

The novel closeable-opening concepts of the present invention generally comprise a threaded bore or bung through the threadedly engaged at its outer-diameter 32K with the bore 31 (at 31T), a plug type closure 35 threadedly engaged with the tubular sleeve innerdiameter 32N, and means (such as removable upright retainer-pin 33) to maintain the replaceable sleeve 32 in non-rotatable combination with the drum structural material as the threaded plug 35 is rotatably engaged or disengaged from said tubulat sleeve liner 32. A preferred specific embodiment 30 of the said closeableopening concept is shown in FIG. 3, it being understood that the general and specific concepts are also adaptable for drum closeable-openings generally (e.g. 30A) and whatever the drum positioned selected therefor. In FIG. 3 embodiment, the roof-panel bore or bung 31 threaded portion 31T extends downwardly only partially, but to a major-depth M, of the thin-wall roofpanel 20 to a roof-panel bottom-shelf 20F. Thus, the minor and lower depth portion 31F of bung 31 is of smaller diameter than the bung upper threaded'portion 31T (having said major-depth M). The tubular sleeve 32 is threaded both at its circular inner-diameter 32N and at its circular outer-diameter 32K which is threadedly engaged at 31T. Tubular sleeve 32 has a constant vertical thickness preferably slightly less than said major-depth M whereby the sleeve horizontal planar lower-face 32F abuts bottom-shelf 20F and the horizontal planar upper-face 32G is recessed slightly below the roof-panel major-area 20D. The recessed upper-face 326 thus will not interfere with stacking of drums atop one another. 9

Both the sleeve 32 (at 32W) and the roof-panel bottom-shelf 20F (at 20W) are respectively provided with a single aperture (e.g. 32W and 20W) whereby a vertical retainer-pin 33 might be driven manually downwardly through sleeve 32 and bottom-shelf 20F to provide a non-rotatable relationship between sleeve 32 and the drum e.g. to roof-panel 20. However, as indicated in phantom line in FIG. 3, the frictionally engaged retainer-pin 33 is upwardly removable (after pre liminary removal of plug 35 and gasket 39). Thus, whenever the threads (at 32l( or 32N) of sleeve liner 32 become so worn as to become unusable, sleeve 32 can be replaced with another one, this minor cost re placement salvaging the entire drum (A, AA) for future extended use.

A flat-ring type resinous gasket 39 might be employed to seal the general opening 30. Herein, the horizontal ring gasket 39 abuts the tubular-sleeve upper-face 326 and extends radially from sleeve inner-diameter 32N to outer-diameter 32K. In this vein, plug 35 is provided with an upper-flange portion 37 extending similarly radially outwardly from 32N to 32K and having its underside in sealing relationship to threads 32N and 32K (through intervening gasket 39) thereby preventing liquid cargo leakage. The closure-opening concepts of the present invention are adaptable for drums of whatever structural material, but especially so for fibrous or resinous structural materials including these comparatively fragile threads at bore 31.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the hollow drum concepts will be readily understood and further explanation is believed to be unnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction shown, but rather is to be expressed in the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A readily re-closeable and re-usuable container of the hollow drum type and stably uprightly surrounding a vertical-axis and comprising:

The solid plug portion 35 of the novel closeableopening concept might take a veriety of specific forms so long as the plug external-diameter 35K is threadedly engageable with the inner-diameter 32N of the replaceable tubular sleeve 32. The solid plug stype 35 is conventionally provided with a pair of internal lugs 36 to accommodate the usual hand-tool (not shown) for tightly engaging and disengaging such threaded plugs.

A. A floor-panel providing the drum lower end and transversely intersecting the said vertical-axis;

B. A tubular shell having a lower portion annularly connected to the floor-panel along a floor-annulus and extending uprightly therefrom in surrounding relationship to the said vertical-axis;

C. A roof-panel that loftily overlies the floor-panel and annularly connected to the upper portion of said tubular shell along a roof-axis that surrounds said vertical-axis; and

D. Said drum being provided with at least one closeable-opening through the structural material thereof and for charging dischargeable cargo into the drum hollow interior chamber, said closeable-opening comprising:

i. A tubular sleeve threadedly engaged at its outerdiameter with a bore in the drum structural material whereby the tubular sleeve abuttably rests upon a bott0m-shelf structural extremity of the roofpanel;

ii. A plug type closure threadedly engaged with said tubular sleeve inner-diameter; and

iii. A retainer-pin means removably passing downwardly through the threaded tubular sleeve into roof-panel bottom-shelf to maintain said sleeve in a non-rotatable relationship to the roof-panel for an extended finite-duration.

2. The container of claim 1 wherein the tubular shell and the roof-annulus respectively substantially circularly surround the vertical-axis, the major-areal portion of the roof-panel being a relatively thin-wall extending transversely to the vertical-axis; and wherein the tubular sleeve is threadedly engaged at its outer-diameter with a bore of the thin-wall roof-panel major-area portion.

3. The container of claim 2 wherein the roof-panel also includes an upwardly entending stiffener-boss substantially surrounding the vertical axis and exclusive of the roof-panel major-area portion; and wherein the tubular sleeve is threadedly engaged with the roof-panel might be horizontally inserted between said plug upperflange and the roof-panel major areal-portion immediately adjacent to the sleeve outer-diameter, the plug upper-flange being locatable at lower elevation than said roof-panel stiffener-boss. 

1. A readily re-closeable and re-usuable container of the hollow drum type and stably uprightly surrounding a vertical-axis and comprising: A. A floor-panel providing the drum lower end and transversely intersecting the said vertical-axis; B. A tubular shell having a lower portion annularly connected to the floor-panel along a floor-annulus and extending uprightly therefrom in surrounding relationship to the said verticalaxis; C. A roof-panel that loftily overlies the floor-panel and annularly connected to the upper portion of said tubular shell along a roof-axis that surrounds said vertical-axis; and D. Said drum being provided with at least one closeable-opening through the structural material thereof and for charging dischargeable cargo into the drum hollow interior chamber, said closeable-opening comprising: i. A tubular sleeve threadedly engaged at its outer-diameter with a bore in the drum structural material whereby the tubular sleeve abuttably rests upon a bottom-shelf structural extremity of the roof-panel; ii. A plug type closure threadedly engaged with said tubular sleeve inner-diameter; and iii. A retainer-pin means removably passing downwardly through the threaded tubular sleeve into roof-panel bottom-shelf to maintain said sleeve in a non-rotatable relationship to the roof-panel for an extended finite-duration.
 2. The container of claim 1 wherein the tubular shell and the roof-annulus respectively substantially circularly surround the vertical-axis, the major-areal portion of the roof-panel being a relatively thin-wall extending transversely to the vertical-axis; and wherein the tubular sleeve is threadedly engaged at its outer-diameter with a bore of the thin-wall roof-panel major-area portion.
 3. The container of claim 2 wherein the roof-panel also includes an upwardly entending stiffener-boss substantially surrounding the vertical-axis and exclusive of the roof-panel major-area portion; and wherein the tubular sleeve is threadedly engaged with the roof-panel between the stiffener-boss and the circular roof-annulus.
 4. The container of claim 3 wherein the plug type closure includes an upper-flange outward structural portion extending substantially to the threaded sleeve threaded outer-diameter whereby an annular gasket might be horizontally inserted between said plug upper-flange and the roof-panel major areal-portion immediately adjacent to the sleeve outer-diameter, the plug upper-flange being locatable at lower elevation than said roof-panel stiffener-boss. 